The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-12-31

              Human Rights Dept. finds probable cause
in case against State Job Service
By Gary Blair
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) has found' 'probable cause" in a case involving a Leech
Lake enrollee.
In a letter dated July 14,1993, Commissioner David Beaulieu notified the
Minnesota Department of Jobs and
Training that their dismissal of James
Monchamp was discriminatory. However, those findings have been appealed
and the case has been put on hold
pending a further court ruling.
According to Monchamp, he was employed for 3 years as a veterans' representative and workedatthe newly opened
southside office ofthe State Job Service
in Minneapolis. He says his employment problems first started in October
of 1991. Additional sources contacted
by the PRESS, also support
Monchamp'saccount of what happened.
Reports show that after continued
difficulties with a new supervisor and
than with another who replaced that
person, Monchamp filed a discrimination complaint on April 8,1992. That
following October he was then suspended. Then on January 4, 1993, he
wasterrriimtedforinsubordination, poor
work performance and making racial
statements. Before his dismissal he was
also accused of sexual harassment by
two fellow male staff members who
didn't like his comments.
It was at this point that Monchamp's
situation seemed to take a turn for the
worst. In the interim between the time
that he first filed his discrimination
complaint and the completion of the
findings by the MDHR he asked for and
received an arbitration hearing. This
was shortly after being terminated.
At that conference Monchamp was
represented by a member from the Minnesota Association of Professional
Employees. The Job Service was represented by an attorney employed by the
State. The outcome of that hearing upheld his earlier dismissal even though
their findings discredited most of the
allegations made by Monchamp's detractors.
Monchamp told the PRESS, "Most
of things that would have been helpful
to me in that hearing were kept out by
that attorney.'' According to the information contained in the MDHR's findings that material was taken into consideration and became part of the deci-
sionfactors. But, this all happened after
Monchamp wasfirst accused by hislead
workerofhavingacommunicationprob-
lem because he was "Native American."
He says he was likewise threatened by
that same person with physical harm.
Additional incidents found in the
MDHR report indicate he received a
written reprimand in December of 1991
which alleged that he had released confidential information involving an unemployment insurance claim. Later,
those same allegations were disproved.
On March 20,1992, he was given an
Service/ See Page 3
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. ~ In a major effort to undo racism within the
United Way of Minneapolis Area system, all 134 United Way agencies
have been requested to submit undoing racism plans by January 7th, for
review and approval by volunteer In-
clusiveness Evaluators.
Agencies must have approved plans,
and make progress on their plans, in
order to keep their United Way funding. United Way is seeking community people who are committed to
undoing racism to volunteer as Inclu-
siveness Evaluators.
This project, if successful, will not
only open the way to employment and
service in many human service agencies; it can also demonstrate how to
create system changes in major institutions where participation by people
of color has been minimal—either
through conscious exclusionary prac
tices, or inattention to the issue.
Some agencies have already completed plans that are currently being
reviewed by fifty Inclusiveness Evaluators, most of whom are people of
color. The plans address five key "practice areas" covering: programs and
services, governance, human re-
The Inclusiveness Project
is attempting to make the
United Way and its funded
agencies accessible and
accountable to communities of color.
sources, communitypartnerships, and
business and administration.
As part of assessing plans, evaluators are conducting site visits and
talking to agency start, board members, and community constituents.
Evaluators will play a crucial role in
Wellstone's staff meets Indian vets on new legislation
By Gary Blair
Last Tuesday U.S. Senator Paul
Wellstone's office in St Paul was the
site ofthe first informational meeting
onissues affecting VAservices to Native
American veterans. Constitutuent
advocate Josh Syrjamaki and Diana
Seegertaldagroup of nmetrifjal enrolled
veterans about a bill that was recently
introducedbySen. Wellstone, that would
expand services provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs for
veterans sufferingfromPost-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The legislation is designed to reduce
delays in processing veterans' claims
and appeals of denied claims for VA
benefits, and to ensure greater equity in
adjudicating appeals of certain claim
denials. The legislation would also
provide Congress and the Department
of Veteran Affairs with the data they
need to determine whether veterans
claims and appeals arebeinghandled as
expeditiously as possible and pinpoint
the problem areas.
For nearly two hours the constitutuent
advocates asked the group questions
about the needs of Native American
veterans.   Bois Forte representatives
Ken Badboy and Jerome Whiteman,
who were present at the meeting talked
about the lack of local accessibility to a
county veterans' officer and the need for
an Indian trained field representative.
Bernard Rock, a Leech Lake enrollee
who was also present told about his
plans to start a "Vet Center" for Native
Americans in the Cass Lake area. Rock
talked about a successful center that's
now operating in the State of
Washington.
Not only would such a center offer
services to Native American veterans, it
wovridalsoofferservicestothdrfernilies.
Services such as a newsletter, family
counseling and support groups with
referrals for the veteran to culturally
sensitive treatment programs.
Rock said, one ofthe most common
problems facing the veterans' family is
domestic abuse. He said, there is a lot of
denial about the problem. He said, most
of it can be traced to PTSD and the use
of alcohol.
Terrance Sutton, a claims
representative for the Minnesota
Department of Veterans Affairs told the
group that more and more of what he
sees are well grounded claims. Sutton
said 80 to 90 percent ofthe claims are
Red Lake Warrior's win 2nd Annual Bismarck Classic
The Red Lake Warriors High School
Basketball Team successfully defended
the title they captured in 1992 as they
downed Standing Rock, ND, in OT 85-
81, in the title game of the Bismarck
Classic on Wednesday night.
The Classic, which was held at the
Bismarck Civic Center in Bismarck,
ND, on December 27, 28 and 29,
featured a field of eight high school
teams from Minnesota, and North and
South Dakota. In gaining the title, the
Warriors beat Belcourt, ND, JV's 92-
75 in the first game and Mandaree, ND,
62-45 in the semis. Derick Smith ofRed
Lake was selectedas the tourney's MVP
for his fine play.
The Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Sing School of
Ely man named to manage
Fortune Bay Casino
Rick Anderson of Ely has been
named general manager of Fortune
Bay Casino on Lake Vermilion. The
announcement was made by Gary
Donald, chairman of the Bois Forte
Reservation Tribal Council at Nett
Lake. Fortune Bay Casino is owned
and operated by the Bois Forte Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Anderson's position as general
manager incorporates the
responsibilities of former casino
president Randy Hella. Hella will
remain with Fortune Bay Casino to
oversee expansion of the casino and
development ofa hotel complex.
Anderson is a native of Ely and a
I
member of the Bois Forte Band of
Lake Superior Chippewa. He recently
served as tribal manager for the Bois
Forte Reservation Tribal Council at
Nett Lake. Prior to that, he was
employed at Vermilion Community
College and served for several years
as coordinator for the Ely Area
Development Council.
He is a past chairman of the board
of directors of Fortune Bay Casino.
He served on the board of directors of
the Vermilion Community College
Foundation and is the past president
of Vermilion Aviation Inc. He served
on the board of directors of the
International Wolf Center in Ely and
Voice of the Anishinabeg
I
United Way agencies must now submit plans
to ensure accountability of funds [
Fifty Cents
njibwi
News
We
Opportunity For All
Founded in 1SBB
Volume 5   Issue Z7        December 31,1933
helping United Way fund-distribution panels, and ultimately the board
of directors, decide whether to approve plans submitted by agencies.
In October, Inclusiveness Evaluators received comprehensive training
in institutional, individual, cultural,
linguistic, and historical racismby the
New Orleans-based People's Institute
for Survival and Beyond. In November, evaluators were trained in the
evaluation method that United Way is
using to assess progress in undoing
racism.
Many United Way agencies have
been involved in the Inclusiveness
Project during the past five years. The
\Inclusiveness Committee, a multi-racial group whose membership includes
leaders from a number of United Way
agencies, has spearheaded the effort
Agencies/ See Page 3
1
Amnklypul
op
1993
valid. He said, he has a special interest
inhelpingthe Native American, because
there is such a disproportionate number
of them who are veterans.
Frank Smith, a White Earth enrollee
who is aMinneapolis police officertold
the group that he often visited the old
Hennepin County detox centerand there
he metalotofNative American veterans
in need of services. Others who were in
attendance at the meeting talked about
additional needs and problems faced by
the Native American veteran.
According to Senate staff Josh
Syrjamaki, who conducted the meeting,
the interest for the new legislation that
has been purposed by Sen. Wellstone,
which was brought about by the large
number of calls from veterans asking
the Senator for assistance with their VA
claims. Also reported at the meeting
was information that those veterans
requesting constituent assistance from
Wellstone's office recieved prompt
attention. Their claims move to the
head ofthe line.
Constituent advocate Diana Seeger
closed the meeting by saying there will
be another meeting on January 6,1994.
Those who are interested in attending
should contact her at (612) 645-0323.
Cass Lake, MN, also participated in the
tourney andfinished 8th. Scores of their
games are as follows: 1st game: Bug
School 58, Fort Totten, ND 108; 2nd
game: Bug School 50, Takini, SD 82;
3rd game: Bug School 44, White Shield,
ND61.
Information courtesy ofthe Bismarck
Tribune.
is currently president of Laurentian
Educational Ventures Inc.
Anderson is a graduate of Vermilion
Community College and St. Cloud
State University. He is a 1970 graduate
of Ely Memorial High School. He and
his wife Polly and their four daughters
reside in Ely.
Is return of Buffalo to plains a sign of
prophesy being fulled?
By Fred Bayles
PAWHUSKA,Okla. (AP) They come
plodding outof the foggy dawn, lured by
the bleat of the truck's horn and its
promise of alfalfa and molasses cubes,
atempting treat compared to their sturdy
diet of native Blue Stem and Indian
grasses.
The morning ritual is to prepare 300
buffaloes for release onto the sepia-
toned hills and swales of ranch land,
owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Gamboling around the slow-moving
truck, the buffalo grunt a murmur of
reassurance that ripples slowly through
the herd.
' 'You know they belong when you see
them out there,'' says Bob Hamilton, a
biologist charged with growing the herd
into 1,800 head over the next decade.
"They're a major cog in the ecological
machine."
The buffalo release this fall al the
36,600-acre preserve on the Kansas
border is but one piece in a mosaic that,
for some, is beginning to resemble the
prophesies made by Indian mystics a
century ago.
In the Ghost Dance ofthe late 1880s,
"When the buffalo saw their
day was over and they could
no longer protect the people,
survivors gathered in council.
Early one day a young woman
looked through the mist to see
the herd appear like a spirit
dream and walk into an
opening in Mount Scott. Inside,
the world was fresh and green
as it once had been. Into this
beauty the buffalo walked,
never to be seen again."
- Kiowa legend
Plains Indians spoke of a time the
buffalb would return, signaling the
collapse of white society and a
reclamation of lands taken from the
tribes and their buffalo brothers.
Now, the buffalo are returning.
Their numbers have quadrupled to
135,000 since the 1970s; exponential
growth is expected to continue as the
herds expand for commercial,
conservation and cultural reasons.
And as the buffalo move onto the
land, people continue to move off.
Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and
the Dakotas have seen populations in
more than a hundred rural counties
drop to half their 1930 levels. Railroad
andbus services have declined. Schools
and hospitals have closed. Working
farms and ranches have disappeared.
There are those who see a connection.
' 'The buffalo tell us what is happening
and what is likelyto happen in the Great
Plains," said Frank Popper, a Rutgers
University urban planner who has been
predicting the Plains will revert to a
frontier of buffalo and open spaces.
Buffalo/Page 3
Deer recalls struggle to preserve identity
Keshena, Wis. (AP) Twenty years
before she became assistant secretary
for Indian affairs in theU. S. Department
of the Interior, Ada Deer struggled to
preserve her tribe's identity.
She came home to Wisconsin this
week to commemorate the fight that
restored the Menominee Nation's
reservation status- and propelled her
career of community service.
Deer, then a social worker, was a
chief lobbyist in Washington for the
committee fighting to undo
congressional action that would have
stripped the tribe's identity and
assimilated members into American
society.
After the Menominee Restora- tion
Act was signed into law by President
Nixon onDec. 22,1973, Deer became
chairman of the Menominee
Restoration Committee.
"Termination," as the program was
called, removed some tribes'
reservation status and encouraged
Indian relocation, job training and
assimilation.   Indian leaders said it
resulted in confusion, rising unemployment and health problems.
"When termination occurred, it was
a shock," Deer told about 200 people
this week at the reservation high
school. "And we're still recovering
from the shock waves of termination."
The Menominee people nearly lost
"We have a rich heritage,
a rich legacy, a beautiful
language and a beautiful
land here."
Ada Deer
the land in Wisconsin and Michigan's
Upper Peninsula on which they had
lived for 5,000 years. More than 9
million acres were given to the federal
government in the 1800s for a
reservation that is about 23 5,000 acres.
"We resisted removal," when the
federal government wanted to move the
Menominees west of the Mississippi
River in the 1800s, she said.
"We resisted allotment," an act in
1887 that would have broken up tribal
land    holdings.    "We    resisted
termination."
As a result of the fight, the
Menominee tribe is one of few in the
nation that remains in its aboriginal
homeland, Deer said.
A reaffirmation of tribal identity, it
marked the first time in history that a
small group of Indians changed
American Indian policy, Deer said.
"Wehavearichheritage, arichlegacy,
a beautiful language and a beautiful
land here," she said. "We must look to
the future with new lenses, because
none of us has a crystal ball."
Deer, who grew up in a log cabin
along the Wolf River, was the first
Menominee to graduate from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and
the first receive a master's degree.
In her current position, she said she
wants to work towards correcting
injustice and fighting racism towards
Indians.
"American Indians have been on
the bottom for so long," she said.
"We need to change that."